Yellow chairman Andrew Day said Armistead's appointment was a core part of the company's ''three year digital transformation strategy'' to take the company from a Yellow Pages book provider to an online business directory.

Armistead had already been on Yellow's management team for 12 months, said Day.

He said Armistead had 26 years of global experience in the directories industry as an executive director at American telco AT&T Interactive, working on yellowpages.com.

He has also held senior strategic roles for Sensis Australia and was managing director at World Directories (Truvo) for the Netherlands and Portugal.

''The New Zealand market is at an exciting stage in its digital advertising evolution,'' Armistead said.

''We're constantly expanding our digital offering and have established relationships with local SMEs.

''Our customers have experienced a significant shift in how we now meet their needs.

''Yellow's new digital focus will ensure we can provide relevant solutions and become their core digital marketing services provider. There's a long and exciting future ahead.''

Day praised the leadership of outgoing interim CEO Pomeroy and said he would remain as a director on Yellow's board.